


A Boy Who Wished For Nothing

by DementedFlorist



Category: Houshin Engi
Genre: Alternate Universe - Genie/Djinn, Gen, genie au
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-06-22
Updated: 2015-06-26
Packaged: 2018-04-05 13:16:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,371
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4181226
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DementedFlorist/pseuds/DementedFlorist
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Bukichi sets out to complete a job in the mountains, and discovers a magical secret......</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. A Job in the Mountains

The summer heat raged on as farmers, woodsmen, and other hard working men and women continued their labor. With the town's heavy reliance on outdoor resources for revenue, this season was a harsh time indeed. There was only one person who worked in these conditions with a constant smile, someone who could hardly tell the difference of the seasons with just temperature alone. A hard working boy who never thought a task was too impossible.

Bukichi lived alone with his ill mother, and took on the role of caretaker and provider for the both of them. He didn't mind, though, since he liked to work and would rather be doing something than nothing. At times his mother would voice her concerns or troubles over this, but Bukichi always reassured her that it was something he wanted to do anyway. His tasks were mostly taking up odd jobs, being so skilled in many different fields and techniques that sticking to one profession was near impossible. 

Today he was asked by the local sculpture to get more clay for his works. He was getting old, and it was harder and harder for him to travel up the mountain and carry pounds of heavy clay back down. Bukichi, smiling widely, said that he would be more than happy to help the old sculptor. Relieved he thanked the boy, got some parchment, and wrote down a quick map to the river he harvests his clay from.

And so Bukichi set off on his journey, stopping at home real quick to make himself a lunch to take with him. The old sculptor said it could be a half a days journey of you didn't know the route by heart, but even so Bukichi was confident enough in his skills that it wouldn't take him that long. But he made himself lunch, just to be safe. He walked through the town, waving to people as they said their greetings to him. The village was small enough that everybody tended to know everyone else; that fact especially so for the village's jack-of-all trades master. Bukichi eventually made it to the outskirts of town, to which a mighty mountain laid face.

It was by no mere means a small mountain, standing tall as if to puff out it's stone chest in pride. Many tended to only go into the mountains for work, but Bukichi loved to just walk and explore it in his younger days. The lush forest that wrapped around it like a scarf filled with the calls of wild birds as he stepped into the mountain, calling back every so often as communicating with birds was one of his many skills. Bukichi took a deep breath relishing in the many sweet smells that wafted his nose from the flowery plants that littered the forest floor. It was, truly, a place of magic.

Bukichi took out the map the sculptor had made him, having entered the mountain from the west side like he was instructed to. From there the map told him to climb the mountains, stopping just before it got steep and making a detour south-east. He did just that, making great time compared to what the sculptor had told him. 

“Today is a great day!” said Bukichi happily, enjoying the job to the fullest. Though he could see why the old sculptor had requested him for this, seeing all the unsteady rocks that crowded the otherwise straight path. “It would be hard for him to walk over them with his bad back, let alone with a bunch of heavy wet clay.”

At one point the rocks started getting bigger. Jutting out from every which way, making it harder and harder to walk the path. 

“Huh, the sculptor or his map didn't mention anything like this....” Bukichi muttered to himself. He wasn't at all afraid the he wouldn't be able to make it through, but he did wonder if he had taken a wrong turn somewhere. All indications from the map, however, was telling him that he was going the right way.

He did eventually see a river in sight, with a waterfall some more distance away. Bukichi hurriedly rushed over the rocks, gazing in awe at the waterfall as they never fail to make him feel humbled. In the presence of the might of nature, Bukichi had nothing but respect.

“Alright, now where would the best place for clay gathering be...” that was the one thing that Bukichi had just now realized the old sculptor had not told him. He scratched his head in thought, looking about the river's banks to see if he could tell where the usable clay was. His eyes eventually followed the river upwards towards the waterfall, where for a second a flash of light seemed to be coming from behind it. It was enough to spark Bukichi's interest and he walked towards to waterfall.

As he got closer and closer, the noise from the waterfall crashing unto the river got louder and louder. Despite that he could have sworn he could hear a voice coming from it. Coming from behind it, to be exact. There weren't any audible words being spoken but it gave him the same feeling as a lullaby, like the ones his mother used to sing to him when he was a child. It was a comfortable, safe, feeling....one he found was hard to pull away from.

Bukichi made his way behind the waterfall, getting a little wet as the water splashed on him from the narrow passageway that allowed footing. Like his gut was telling him, a cave was hidden behind the might veil of rushing water. However, that wasn't the surprising part. No, what was so surprising was that as soon as he came face to face with the cave, all sound disappeared. He could no longer hear the crashing water, the light breeze that was traveling along the forest, nothing. The oddity of such a thing almost made him turn around and head straight back, but he couldn't ignore the nagging in his heart that he absolutely _must_ find out the cause of the voice that still rang out like the dinging of a small bell. 

He took a deep breath, steadied his resolve, and entered the cave.


	2. The Lamp

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *note: I sort of rushed the ending a little bit and I can't edit it right now, so I'm super sorry about that! but please enjoy the chapter!

Any other human being would have complained about the complete and utter darkness, but Bukichi had such excellent eyesight that he could see fairly well even in the blackest of places. Maneuvering his way through the cave was as simple as breathing. The tunnel he traveled through was tall and wide, much to his surprise. It felt smooth, too, as if it was almost perfect. It as hard to believe that someone spent all that time and energy into perfecting the tunnel as well as digging it.   
Bukichi had already been walking around ten minutes through the cave, listening to nothing but his footsteps and the voice that didn't seem to be getting any closer. If fact, it seemed like it was coming from....  
“....Below?” Bukichi whispered. He crouched down and placed his ear to the rocky floor, the voice reverberating in his eardrum as if it was in the stone itself. Bukichi removed his ear from the ground, and started to wonder how a voice could be coming /from/ the rock.   
He suddenly felt a rumble. Bukichi stood up immediately and tried to determine where the tremor was coming from. He felt it again, this time bigger. It told him it was close. He turned to run out of the cave but the step he took never hit the ground. Bukichi peered down into the hole that had opened up underneath him and fell.

 

************************************* 

 

The bump on Bukichi's head was slight, and he was otherwise unharmed. Being physically sturdy came in handy when tackling dangerous and demanding tasks.  
“What was that?” he said, rubbing his head despite feeling almost no pain. When Bukichi used his other hand to try to get up, he noticed that what he was touching wasn't rock. He looked down to find tons, hundreds, /thousands/ of gold coins littering the floor.   
“Oh wow!” Bukichi shouted excitedly, “Look at all this! I've never seen /a/ gold coin, never mind hundreds of them!”   
His curiosity and adventurous nature got the better of him and he couldn't help but explore. Maybe if another had found this haven, they'd be scarping to pocket as much of this treasure as they could. Bukichi was content with just looking, however; such a discovery itself was a treasure to him, as he valued experiences more than material objects. He merrily climbed up and down the mountains of gold, marveled at the jewels that he couldn't even dream of, and wondered at ancient artifacts of cultures he's never even hear of.  
Eventually, after much grinning and looking, his eyes fell upon something odd. Bukichi stopped, watching the dull and rusty lamp lay neatly on a small altar. A statue of what looked like a hippo stood above it, as if to guard the less impressive artifact. He walked to the lamp and gently picked it up, careful not to crush it with his strength. Bukichi became quite taken with the old lamp, feeling it was the only thing he could connect to in this sea of majesty. He resolved not to take it, though, since he felt wrong taking someone else's things. His mother had raised him better than that, after all.  
“Hmmm, it's a shame to leave it all dull, though...I guess the owner of all this treasure wouldn't mind me polishing it up a bit!”  
So as an act of repayment for getting to enjoy being amongst such luxurious items, ones of which he was sure he would never see again in his life, Bukichi took the sleeve of his jacket and gently rubbed the lamp.  
At first, the lamp had not changed. Bukichi decided to try rubbing it a little harder, yet still, nothing changed on the lamp's surface. He rubbed it harder still, but the wear on the lamp refused to bend. Getting somewhat frustrated, Bukichi put more and more strength into his rubbing until he heard it.   
A crack.  
Bukichi quickly released his sleeve-covered hand from the lamp to see a small crack in the dent he had made in the lamp with his desperate attempt to shine it.  
“WHAT HAVE I DONE!?” he cried, feeling bad for ruining such a beautiful lamp.  
“I'll tell you what you've done” said a voice. Bukichi's head shot straight up in anxiousness thinking that the owner of the treasure had found him. The moment he looked up, however, his eyes were met with a sweet smelling smoke. Bukichi covered his face with one arm while holding the lamp in the other and waited for the smoke to clear, trying hard not to cough. Once it did, he could hardly believe what he was seeing.  
A large being was floating in front of him, intimidating and fierce. Bukichi's mouth hung open agape as he looked into the being's cold eyes that were staring right back at him.   
“I-I am so sorry sir for breaking your lamp!” whatever was running through Bukichi's mind, the first thing that seemed to click was to bow and apologize to the being for breaking their lamp.  
“Well,” said the being, “Why are you apologizing!? You got my out of that stinkin' lamp!” The being's face immediately lost it's harsh tone and was replaced with a softer touch. “I've been in there so long it's ridiculous, I tell you! RIDICULOUS!”  
The being slumped their shoulders and heaved a sigh. Though still a little nervous, Bukichi looked up at the being once more.  
“Um...that voice....where you the one that was singing that song?”  
The being looked down at Bukichi, cocking his head to the side. “Song? Song....” The being snapped his fingers.  
“Oh yeah! I had sensed that someone was coming near the waterfall, so I was trying to call them.....”  
A hardy “ha!” could be heard coming from the statue being the being.  
“That's a lie and you know it! The only reason the boy's here is cause you could smell the peaches and started wailing that you wanted some!”  
“Be quiet Supuu!!” hissed the being, turning around to give the statue the stink eye. Bukichi peered behind the being to look at the statue.  
“Peaches...are you talking about my lunch?” Bukici reached into the small sack he had brought with him which held his lunch. “It's just chestnuts and peaches I grabbed before coming here.”  
The being eyed the container eagerly. “It's been so long...peaches...” he mumbled.   
The statue sighed. “Forgive him, he's not exactly a casual peach fan....hey! Why don't you do something about this form now that you're out of the lamp, will ya?”  
A small “tch” could be heard coming from the being, turning his head to the side in annoyance.  
“Don't ignore me you peach loving idiot!”  
“Who's the idiot!? YOU got turned into a statue!”  
“YOU were stuck in a lamp for 700 years!”  
“Yeah well YOU were stuck as a statue for just as long!”  
They continued to bicker back and forth and during that Bukichi had opened his lunch and brought out the peaches.  
“If it was the peaches you were after, you can have them!” Bukichi reached out his hand to offer the peaches to the being. He whipped his head around towards Bukichi.  
“Are you sure I can have them? It is your lunch, after all” said the being, while taking the peaches anyway. It was curious to Bukichi how the being was able to eat the peaches despite being translucent.  
The statue sighed, completely and utter fed up. “I apologize for my master's behavior.”  
Bukichi smiled. “It's no problem! It's the least I can do for breaking his lamp...” he awkwardly scratched the back of his head. The being was too busy eating the peaches like a mad man to notice.  
“You're a nice kid, what's your name?”  
“Bukichi, sir!”  
The statue laughed. “Ha ha, the sir is not necessary, though I do appreciate the respect.”  
“You better enjoy the moment while it lasts Supuu cause it'll never happen again!” The being had finished his peaches and interjected into the conversation.  
“Well if anything, /master/, you are the one who should be calling Bukichi 'sir'.”  
The being gulped, and Bukichi looked at the statue in confusion. “What do you mean by that, si-I mean, mr. hippo”  
“Ahahah it's nothing, it's nothing! That hippo is senile you really shouldn't take him seriously!!” the being frantically waved his hand in dismissal. The statue ignored the being and continued talking.  
“You see, Bukichi, my master here is a djinn; or genie, in a simpler term. You rubbed well, er, /broke/ his lamp which released the seal that was keeping him in there. And according to the rules, the one who releases the seal is the one the genie has to serve.   
“So in short, Bukichi, your are the owner of your very own genie.”  
Bukichi stared in wonderment at the now-figured-out genie, while the genie started pointing his finger the statue.  
“You stupid hippo! Why'd you tell him that!”  
“Well one of us is going to have to do your job.”  
The genie rubbed his head in frustration, obviously displeased with the information that the statue had revealed.  
“So,” said Bukichi, “You're a genie? You can grant wishes and stuff, with magic?”  
The genie stopped his lamenting and looked sharpy at Bukichi  
“How''d you know I can do that?”  
Bukichi shrugged “Stories about beings like you have been around the village for a long time, mostly told by elders to entertain their grandchildren. My mother also would tell me such stories.”  
The genie rubbed his face in frustration and grunted. Bukichi could have sworn he felt the statue roll it's eyes.  
“Um....Mr. Genie....”  
The genie peeked through his fingers “Call me Taikoubou”  
“Ah, Taikoubou, if it's so much trouble I can release you from your servitude.”  
Both the genie Taikoubou and the statue Supuu shouted “What!?”, one with glee and the other with disbelief.  
“Are you serious!?” said Taikoubou, “You'd really let me go!?”  
“Bukichi nodded his head, “Yes! I don't really have anything I desire that needs wishing for, so I fear that your services would be wasted on me.”  
“But Bukichi,” said Supuu, “The bond of servitude between a djinn and the person who released the seal are absolute. It's not something you can break just like that.”  
“What kind of logic is that Supuu!” Taikoubou whined.  
“If you'd actually payed attention and did your job I wouldn't have to be the one explaining things! And turn me back to my original form you stupid master!”  
Taikoubou folded his arms and looked at the statue for a moment. “Alright....fine.”  
Bukichi watched as sparks of light surrounded the genie Taikoubou's form. Taikoubou stretched his hands over the statue and maneuvered them in a soft dance. After a couple moments the sparks of light engulfing the both of them became so bright that Bukichi had to actually shield his eyes, and only shortly after the light had completely vanished. It didn't take long for Bukichi's eyes to adjust back to normal and looked at the new forms of these magical beings.  
Supuu was a statue no more, growing five times in size. He wore a golden scarf adorned with intricate patterns, and gloves that matched. A giant orb rested in his hands. Supuu's giant emerald eyes looked into Bukichi's and he smiled at him. Taikoubou had shrunk down to a normal size. He still wore the same style of clothes he had when he was giant, but now they were littered with jewels.   
“Ah, I'm finally back to normal!” said Supuu hapilly flying in small circles as if to get into the hang of being an actual body again. “But master, your outfit! It's too much!”  
“Be quiet Supuu! It's been so long since I've been out in the world, let me treat myself for once.”  
“But master, you /always/ treat yourself.”  
“Oh whatever! By the way, Bukichi...”  
Bukichi snapped out of his thoughts. “Y-Yes!”  
“What were you doing up here in the mountains?” asked Taikoubou  
It took a second for the question to register in Bukichi's head, but once it did he turned into a anxious mess.  
“The old sculptor! I was supposed to harvest his clay for him!” Bukichi began to panic a little, feeling very guilty for getting caught up with the events that laid before him. Imagining the old sculptor being disappointed in him was not helping.  
“Oh that guy!” said Taikoubou, “He hasn't been coming around the river as often as before, so I was wondering what was up.”  
“He must be pretty old by now, he's been coming around here for ages.”  
Bukichi was only half listening to their conversation. “What am I going to do!?” he cried.  
Taikoubou sighed in resognation, “Alright, alright we'll help you.”  
Bukichi almost started crying when he heard those words.  
“Really? You'll help!?”  
“He doesn't have much of a choice, since your his master and all.”  
“Yes thank you for reminding us of that Supuu!” said Taikoubou grumpily.  
“But,” said Bukichi, “How are we gonna get out of here? I mean, I feel through the floor and I don't think I can go back up that way.”  
“It's fine, it's fine!” Taikoubou waved his arm. “We'll just ride Supuu up to the surface, no problem!”  
Supuu took offense to the comment. “I'm not a transportation device, master!”  
“You can fly, can't you? Besides” said Taikoubou lazily, “I'm not used to my powers yet; I could hardly be of any use to is right now.”  
“You used your powers to change us back to normal!”  
“That was different.”  
“The heck it was!” Supuu would have kept up the argument had Taikoubou not waved his hand.  
“That doesn't matter right now,” said Taikoubou as he hopped onto Supuu's back. “We gotta get out of here first.”  
“I hate it when you're right.” Supuu muttered.

Bukichi climbed onto Supuu, back, sitting behind Taikoubou, and flew out of the cave.


End file.
